2-3 External Factors That Influences Consumer Behavior

3 External Factors that
Influences Consumer
Behavior
Some of the external factors that influences
consumer behavior are as follows:
Besides the internal factors, external factors also
influence consumer behaviour. These factors are not
individualistic and are external to the individual.
These factors include culture, subculture, social class,

reference group and family influences. They are
associated with the groups that the individual belongs to
and interacts with.
1. Culture:
Culture refers to the traditions, taboos, values and basic
attitudes of the whole society within which an individual
lives. It is essentially associated with a certain nationality
or religious identity of an individual. Cultural norms are
learnt by an individual from childhood and their
influence is so ingrained that it is invisible in daily
behaviour. Culture teaches an individual the acceptable
norms of behaviour and tells him the rights and wrongs.
When an individual deviates from acceptable norms,
certain sanctions are imposed on him.
Cultural values affect how business is conducted. Culture

also affects consumption behaviour. Cultural influences
can be seen in the food habits and dressing style of people.
It also influences communication (language), attitudes
and values that influence consumption patterns.
For instance, attitude towards future security and

prosperity affects the propensity to save and consume
and also affects decisions about possessions. In many
Asian countries, having one’s own house is one of the
most important indicators of security (it is considered an
investment) and lends social standing.
Cultural influences are highly conspicuous in

communication messages. Use of colours, symbols,
language and message sources reflect culture. Many
brands associate their messages with a country’s culture
to adapt their messages. For instance, Honda, a Japanese
brand communicates Indianness and its wide presence in
India by using the brand logo in Mehendi (Henna, a local
craft of painting one’s hands), Chevrolet uses a popular
Indian festival to indicate cultural adaptation, while some
food brands such as Pillsbury show the mother serving
hot food to her children and thus communicating her love
(signifying the role of the mother in the Indian culture) to
position their brand’s superior product. The main aim of
the multinational brands is to tune their messages
according to the cultural specifications of various regions
that they operate in.
2. Social class:
Social class refers to the hierarchical arrangement of the
society into various divisions, each of which signifies
social status or standing. Social class is an important
determinant of consumer behaviour as it affects
consumption patterns, lifestyle, media patterns, activities
and interests of consumers.
Though there are various methods of ascertaining social

class, most often it has been equated with income
differences. However, this may not be true. Income
differences do contribute to differences in social status,
though they may not be the sole cause of differences in
consumption patterns or lifestyles.
For instance, two consumers earning the same income
may differ considerably in lifestyle when one has
professional qualification at the post graduate level and is
employed at the senior management cadre of a
multinational, while the other is self employed, with
education confined to a few years of schooling.
Preferences regarding product and brand purchases,
media consumption patterns, interests in pursuit of
various leisure time activities vary a lot among these two
consumers.
Such revelations through the years have prompted

marketers to measure social class as a composite variable
that reflects not just income differences, but other
indicators such as educational qualifications, type of
profession and designation, material possessions, etc.
Social class may fail to distinguish between contrasting

consumption patterns though it remains an important
discrimination of consumption patterns. Social class
should be used with other measures such as life stage and
life cycle.
3. Reference groups:
Reference groups are groups of people that influence an
individual’s attitude or behaviour. Individuals use these
groups as reference points for learning attitudes, beliefs
and behaviour, and adapt these in their life.
Family and close friends are considered to be primary
reference groups in an individual’s life due to their
frequency of interaction with the individual and primacy
of these significant others in an individual’s life.
Schoolmates, neighbourhood, colleagues, other
acquaintances are a part of the secondary reference
groups of an individual.
An individual may or may not personally interact with

others to imitate their behaviour, and thus, even those
individuals or groups from whom an individual learns by
mere observation are also part of his reference group.
Reference groups influence product and brand

purchases, particularly when the consumption is
conspicuous in nature. Where a product is conspicuously
consumed, the brand chosen may be influenced by what
buyers perceive as acceptable to their reference groups.
In case of conspicuous luxuries, even product

consumption is influenced by reference groups. In case of
inconspicuous products, reference group influence is
lower, as there are little or no consequences (sanctions)
for not buying the ‘right’ choices.
Among various members in a reference group, there are

some who are referred to as opinion leaders. Members
respect the views of an opinion leader, and seek his
counsel and guidance on a particular issue. An opinion
leader can influence purchase decisions because
members respect them for their expertise, or their social
standing.
An opinion leader is a very credible source of word-of-

mouth communication, and most of them ensure that
their views on issues are known to members of the
reference group. Their credibility is higher, as they are
part of the reference group and do not have vested
interests in selling the product to others, unlike
marketers.
Opinion leaders are product or category specific and are

characterized by high involvement level. It is extremely
difficult to identify opinion leaders as they appear to be
like other members of their group. They do not stand out,
though their influencing power is stronger.
Marketers can identify reference group members only by

conducting appropriate research, which has to be product
specific. Such research must include questions about the
involvement levels of the respondent, level of knowledge,
social standing in groups, inclination to adopt new
products and ability to influence others.

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3 External Factors that

These factors include culture, subculture, social class,

Cultural values affect how business is conducted. Culture

For instance, attitude towards future security and

Cultural influences are highly conspicuous in

Though there are various methods of ascertaining social

Such revelations through the years have prompted

Social class may fail to distinguish between contrasting

An individual may or may not personally interact with

Reference groups influence product and brand

In case of conspicuous luxuries, even product

Among various members in a reference group, there are

An opinion leader is a very credible source of word-of-

Opinion leaders are product or category specific and are

Marketers can identify reference group members only by

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